#without having to axe a character that's supposed to be important

[miniagula]

if yuseong was SUPPOSED to be introduced and axed in 3 chapters then he served his purpose! but it just Doesn't Taste Good!!

i harp on jj for borrowing from bnha but GOD i wish it did again. i can't even say yuseong got stars-and-stripe'd bc she put up a fight and nearly beat shiggy, who was p much unbeatable at that point. there's no buildup for breeder's power, we don't get to watch him grow, and while it's kind of refreshing that he doesn't struggle, it feels like he's already fully developed off-screen. idk it's just IMMENSELY underwhelming

[sidekick-hero]

(steddie | mature | 2.1k | cw: major character death (temporary, as in reincarnation) | tags: soulmates, starcrossed lovers, reincarnation | summary: In every life, in every universe, they will find each other again. What's a lifetime if you measure it in eternity? | @steddielovemonth prompt Love is a fire that never goes out | AO3)

1

Troy, 13th century BCE

Achilles often marveled at the serenity of the sea at night. His mother is tempestuous by nature, unpredictable and untamed, and most days the sea reflects her nature. But not tonight. Tonight the waves are shallow, a gentle rocking of their ships that had lulled Patroclus to sleep in his arms.

The lone candle on his bedside bathes the room in a warm orange glow, casting shadows across the naked skin of his lover. He can see his marks on the alabaster skin, pale as the moon to Achilles' sun-kissed skin.

Many people have said that they are a study in contradictions, one the perfect antithesis of the other. They're not entirely wrong, but they miss the point. The most important fact of all.

Patroclus is the other half of his soul, and they only make sense together.

The war rages on, and deep down Achilles knows he can't sit this one out forever. Everyone thinks he refuses to fight out of spite, a bruised ego and a prideful, stubborn nature, much like his mother's, that keeps him away from the front lines.

Sure, it feeds his ego to know they're losing without his sword, but it's not pride that keeps him from joining the Greeks in this senseless war.

It's fear.

He's not afraid for himself, never has been. Achilles is a hero, he's destined to die at the hands of another. It's a cold comfort, this knowledge of the path that awaits him: Glory, honor, death.

It's what will make him a god one day.

No one ever asked him if he wanted that. No one but Patroclus, half his soul, all his life. Being a god, worshipped and admired by the masses, pales in comparison to the feeling of dark brown eyes looking at him with nothing but love and devotion. They don't see a half god, Achilles knows that.

They see the lonely boy who only ever wanted someone to see him and love him for that. For what he is, not for what the prophecies say he will be.

Tomorrow he will take up his armor again. Not to win a war for a man blinded by pride and greed and stupidity.

For the man whose love burns as warm and bright as the fire on Mount Olympus, and only for him.

2

England, 15th century

Public executions are Stephanos' least favorite of his princely duties.

He hates to see men and women die by his father's hand, no matter who ties the knot or sets the stake on fire. It might as well be his father's hand swinging the axe. The only thing he hates more is the cheering of the crowd, the spectacle. How they enjoy the suffering, the death, being played out before them. They're probably glad it's not them, but that's no excuse in his eyes.

Stephanos vows that when he becomes king, he will be a more just ruler.

It hasn't always been this way with him. When he was a young boy, he wanted to be like his father. There had never been any question in his mind that the people who were executed for public entertainment deserved their fate. They had it coming, bad people needed to be punished.

Edmund showed him that wasn't true.

Disguised as a commoner, he had taken Stephanos out of the castle and into town. He had shown him how the people of the kingdom really lived, and who the villains really were: his father's men, who tormented and abused and exploited the people they were supposed to protect and serve.

Edmund, who had lost his parents to King Richard's cruelty and still retained his kindness and warmth, and who had shown Stephanos what true love really meant.

Love for his people, who deserved a king who would rule them justly and kindly.

Love for the friends he made along the way, as Edmund taught him about the suffering that was happening right under his nose.

Love for another man, a man who found it in himself to love the son of the murderer of his parents.

It's the only thing that keeps him upright when he's forced to watch his love burn at the stake for having bewitched the young prince. Witchcraft, the only acceptable explanation for what they had caught Stephanos and Edmund doing in Stephanos' chambers.

As the flames die down, long after the painful screams of the only man, the only person, Stephanos has ever loved, the fire within him burns brighter than ever. He vows to avenge his lover and honor his memory by being a ruler Edmund would be proud to call his king.

3

Normandy, 1944

"God, they tell you about the bullets and the bombs, the blood and the death, sure. But they never talk about the rain and the cold and the bloody mud, do they?" Stephen knows it's a rhetorical question because Edward loves to ask them.

"Ever wonder if our commanding officer has a map, or does he just like sending us on scenic tours of enemy territory?”

" Wonder if the rats in the trenches have formed a union yet. Bet they're negotiating better living conditions than we are.".

"Do you reckon the General's war strategy involves a magic eight ball? I mean, that would explain a lot."

At first it had pissed him off. It was bad enough that they had to fight alongside a British battalion with soldiers who talked funny and were trained in ways Stephen didn't really understand. Most of what they did didn't make sense to him and he just wanted them all to fuck off back to where they came from. Maybe take some Germans out on the way, because even in his irritation he could admit that they could use all the help they could get.

That didn't mean he had to like the hand attached to that help.

It's just that during the last two months they've been hunkered down somewhere in the north of France, with rain pouring down almost constantly, he's gone and fallen in love with an Englishman.

How embarrassing.

Even the accent kind of does it for him now, all thanks to Edward ("Would you just call me Eddie for Christ's sake, you literally saved my ass.") and his charming, if slightly odd, ways. He was infuriating, but kind and funny, always trying to cheer everyone up even when he was barely holding it together. Eddie made him laugh and blush and curse up a storm and roll his eyes fondly and cry exhausted tears into his surprisingly strong shoulders.

Eddie makes him feel alive. He makes Stephen want to be alive, too.

Most of all, he wants Eddie to be alive.

The gaping bullet wound in his chest tells Stephen that he may not get what he wants.

Eddie's hand in his is wet from the rain and too cold, as if the life has already begun to seep out of his limbs and with it all his warmth. Which is ridiculous, because no one burns as warm and bright as Eddie, even on the darkest days he would be their beacon of light. A roaring fire of life and love and hope.

A fire that couldn't be put out just like that. They needed him, all those young soldiers, barely 18, if that, who looked up to Eddie and worshipped the ground he walked on. Who would look out for them now? Who would keep their spirits up, their will to fight and live?

Stephen couldn't do it, not without Eddie.

"I can't do it without you, Eddie." He is not ashamed of the way his voice breaks as he holds the love he has just found in his arms, only to lose it again.

Eddie's eyes are warm and soft as they gaze into his, even with the pain clearly visible in them. "Yes, you can, sweetheart. They need you."

"I need you," Stephen sobs, his tears mixing with the rain that falls on a face he knows will one day be a fading memory. The thought hurts. It fucking hurts.

With the last of his strength, Eddie squeezes his hand. "You have me, Stevie. You'll always have me. My love will keep you warm long after my body has grown cold, I promise. I'll always be with you, in every life to come."

4

Hawkins, 1987

"Hey Eddie, it's me. Steve." Rubbing his hands over his face, Steve sighs, a sound as tired as he feels. "God, this is so stupid. You barely knew me. I barely knew you. I shouldn't be sitting here mourning you like we were anything more than two strangers thrown together in this fucking mess. Not that you don't deserve to be mourned, man. It makes me so fucking angry how they still refuse to see who you really were. A hero. A friend."

It's cold where Steve sits on the ground in front of a slab of stone that reads "Edward Munson".

"It's just... I don't understand why it hurts so much. It feels like, fuck, like there's a fist in my chest, in my stomach, squeezing so hard I can barely breathe some days. We all miss you. Not just the kids, although it hit Dustin the hardest. He's not the same and I don't know how to help him. Christ, I can't even help myself. I sleep with your vest under my bed, right next to my bat, how crazy is that? Most nights I can only sleep for a few hours if I touch it."

He runs his hand through his hair and grips it tightly, as if the pain helps make sense of everything he's feeling.

"You'd probably call me crazy, a fucking nutcase. Or maybe not. I don't know you well enough to say for sure, but I feel like maybe you wouldn't judge me too harshly. What I'm trying to say is this: I feel like when you died I lost something I didn't even know I had. Like, ugh, I dunno, I'm not good at this, you should have seen my college essay, Nancy told me it didn't make any sense. But it's like your death should be the period at the end of our story, right? The sentence is over, the story is told. Only it feels like it's just a semicolon and part of the story is still coming. That doesn't make sense, does it?"

Sighing again, this time because he's annoyed at himself for not finding the right words to explain himself, he climbs to his feet and slaps his hand on the cold stone.

"Right. Sorry for disturbing your rest. You deserve some rest, Eddie. Thank you for saving us. For saving Dustin. And for, y'know, saying those things in the woods. I never told you that, but it still means a lot to me."

The you still mean a lot to me swings in the space between the living and the dead, the thread that holds both worlds together.

5

Chicago, 2023

Steve knows they should go inside. They're too old to sleep out on the cold, hard ground, even if the night air is mild at this time of year. Steve and Eddie aren't 20 anymore, they're twice that age, and he knows they're going to regret not sleeping in a real bed in the morning.

"We should go inside, it's getting late," he says to Eddie, but his husband just hums where he's nestled into Steve's side, his cheek on Steve's chest. Right over his heart, where he's carved out his own space in the two decades they've been together.

"Just a little while longer, love. I don't want to miss it."

Eddie sounds wide awake, as excited to be lying in the garden outside their little house on the outskirts of town as he is about anything else in their lives. It's one of the most endearing things about him. Every day with him is a new adventure, even if it's Sunday morning reruns of Friends.

"Miss what, babe?"

"The shooting stars. Didn't you listen to Dustin when he said there was a meteor shower tonight?"

Steve chuckled. Of course his little brother would know such things. He has to admit that he didn't listen to his ramblings when he stopped by for lunch, too distracted by the way the autumn sun had cast shadows on Eddie's face. Not that he'd say it out loud.

"Mhhh. Must have slipped my mind. So, what do we wish for?" It comes out more earnest than he intended, his teasing feeling oddly displaced in the face of the pure love and adoration on Eddie's face as he leans up on his elbow to look down at Steve.

"For another lifetime with you. What more would I want than more of what we already have, preferably an eternity of it."

Out of the corner of his eye, Steve sees the first shooting star streaking across the night sky, and as he pulls Eddie down for a kiss, he wishes for just that.

[williaml0ver]

☆ <3 Naib Subedar Taking Care of Robbie ☆ <3

[🖇️] word count: 1437

[🖇️] warnings: g/n reader, not proofread - as if i ever did that before

[🖇️] author's note: this was supposed to be a multiple characters post but i realized that i am NOT made for this, at least for now lmao. I will just post the other two separately soon because it's easier for me this way. 🫨

[🖇️] Maybe this would make more sense with Memory but Robbie is like my favourite hunter of course i had to take the opportunity omg... ROBBIENATION RISE

-Ever since the past week you managed to get closer to little Robbie. Whether it happened because he was fond of your kindness or you seemed like a perfect playmate he was soon all over you - he'd share candy with you and even make cards with drawings for special occasions. One day when it was already very late you've suddenly heard a few knocks on the old fashioned door of your dorm. You've slowly gotten up, trying not to wake up your lover and opened the door. It was no one else than Robbie himself holding a small plushie. Long past his bedtime. He started explaining he's got nightmares and is scared to sleep alone today, later asking if he could join you two. If you didn't share your room you'd immediately agree, however, in this case you need to ask your boyfriend for consent.

-Naib is suddenly awoken by you, asking what's so important at this ungodly hour? Once the question's finally asked he feels confused, noticing the little boy standing behind with a "mom i just throw up" face.

-Has a hesitant stance at first. Sure, he's noticed you two started spending more time lately, but for you to be babying the boy already? He would be suggesting bringing him back to Michiko or Luchino, but the stone hearted mercenery eventually gives in after you convince him.

-When the three of you finally lay together, you are in between them since Naib prefered to be next to you, he holds you by your waist and meanwhile you hold Robbie. Naib also stays up a little longer to see both of you fall asleep, both because he just wants to look at you and make sure no tricks are being pulled. Seems like the axe boy really enjoyed sleeping together, as he loves visiting for little sleepovers from time to time. This doesn't bug the merc as much, but he still may feel a little, just a little jealous.

-Why would a man slowly pushing thirty be jealous of a small child you ask? Naib thought so as well, but when he saw you both drawing silly stuff on paper he felt somewhat envious. Just when you thought the most secretive, independent, straightforward person under this roof would never loose his cool around you, he sits next to you and starts drawing a wacky stickman.

-Ever since his sleepovers became a frequent thing, Naib is often choosen to be on babysitting duty. Sometimes with you, sometimes alone.

-I can see them having bit of a rough start at some point? Like Naib wanting to distance himself rather than be around Robbie, yet making sure he is around. He'd eye him to make sure you're not being hurt. This small boy, on the other hand, would be ecstatic to finally crack the mercernary's tough shell, the one who's making sure his playmate is safe in bed. With your help, Robbie would like to get closer to Naib, he quickly develops a big fascination with the green hooded man.

-You'd have to start slow and be patient, maybe ask Robbie to help you make lunch for the three of you and later eat together? Naib would begin recognizing the child's good intentions and eventually lets his guard down around.

-Once the adaptation is done, Naib definitely would receive the Cool Uncle™️ title without much effort and be constantly bugged by Robbie pleading him to show some cool tricks he does with his weapons. And well, Naib could be a hesitant one. You may as well step in to beg too, because how can he resist those four cute eyes? (Okay not quite if we think of Robbie but let's go on) The look in Robbie's eyes? Priceless. As if someone put diamonds in his eyes. Seeing the boy being so excited about something so ordinary to him actually boosts his ego and show some dangerous-leaning stuff, you may want to step in. Naib will soon realize that being the Cool Uncle™️ is not an easy task.

-They soon become some kind of partners in crime. Robbie discovers Naib from a totally diffrent side, he's mature, but he can also be a huge tease. He is certainly not the most talkative man, though is providing a lot of security. Naib is even willing to share some of his food of it and sometimee sneaks candies in Robbie's pocket when you're not looking.

-You'd often have to be the voice of reasons between them, as Naib's ego sometimes raises over the roof when showing off to Robbie.

-Eventually, they start spending so much time together that whenever someone spots either of them alone, they ask where the other one is. Naib feels secretly very proud of Robbie.

-One day, to your surprise, he even allowed him to wear his cape. You have a photo of him as mini Naib holding a toy knife standing on your bedroom desk.

-Robbie's personal favourite drawing is the one where he and Naib are in knight armors rescuing you from a dragon.

-Robbie's a curious child. You can't call it a day if you haven't seen him pulling the Merc by his hood and asking for yet another cool story. Naib would either make them up or just slightly modify his stories from the military.

-A lot of field trips! Naib would like to show Robbie some useful tricks, like what to do when you get lost. You, at first, thought that was a cute idea, until Robbie began climbing up random furniture. Robbie once showed you some usefk knife defence tricks that he was taught by your boyfriend, much to your horror. That man is raising a little monster.

-You once decided to go with them for one of those trips. Just out of curiosity. When you went to the toilet alone for a few minutes, Naib started teaching Robbie some fighting moves. Let's say you were terrified when you came back.

-Robbie enjoys when he is picked up by the older man. He likes to put on oversized coats he borrowed from Luchino and go to him, pretending to trick him into thinking that he has grown so quickly.

-They DO enjoy pulling pranks. And when think they would spare you and do it to others, you're actually their main victim.

-Naib specifically learnt a few "magic tricks" to show Robbie. Boy he was shocked.

-They both get overcompetitive when playing hide and seek. You always pray you're the one hiding because when it's the other way around it may take up to an HOUR, after the merc taught Robbie how to discretly switch hiding spots, much to your annoyance.

-Robbie picks up some of Naib's behaviour. Robbie seldom answer with a very sarcastic and ironic tone. You and Naib had a talk that day.

-As much as Robbie doesn't mean anything bad, he can sometimes get too brave and say something mildly offensive to you. Naib wouldn't hesitate to confront him about it and command to apologize.

-Robbie's very hyperactive, so whether Naib is reading a book or working out with Eli, he would constantly have a pair of small legs following him and asking what he's up to.

-They both like bonding over making food. If Robbie finds anything intriguing him in a cookbook it's only a matter of time until you see them picking up the indegredients together to surprise you. Naib let's him pick anything he wants for the dessert.

-Naib would teach Robbie how to prepare some easy and safe to make meals so he could feed himself on his own <3.

-During his solo babysitting duty, although caring, Naib can be strict. He secretly worries a lot and would not hesitate to send him back to the hunters' part of the manor as temporary punishment. Michiko learned to take advantage of that and would allow him to go back if he helped the butlers and maids do the cleaning.

-I can see Naib being the "go ask your mother" kind of person 😭. Also not very adequate to the era, but he would totally ask the kid if he has any cool games on his phone, just so he could get distracted and Naib could spend some time with you.

-As much as the mercenary likes Robbie, it does annoy him sometimes how he now has less private time just with you.

-Ultimately, while at first seeming closed off, Naib actually becomes very fond of him and is ready to protect him. Robbie meanwhile likes to show Naib how much he loves both of you.

I don't know what to put here... i'm posting this while listening to Shakira songs... besides the Robbie mini series with Ganji and William (half finished!) i will soon start working on date scenerios with Luchino and Kevin for valentine day yay!!!! If any of my loyal and beloved eight followers is reading this i love you guys i'm swinging my feet goodnight

[professoruber]

Who is Leonardo Hapoon? (Spy X Family Analysis and Theory)

During the Cruise Ship Arc of Spy X Family, Yor is tasked with protecting the last surviving members of the Gretcher crime family from the new boss of the Ostanian underworld; Leonardo Hapoon.

While it is not explicitly stated, it does ppear that the man in the white suit shown in this image is Hapoon, as Shopkeeper is talking about Hapoon’s actions and the white-suited man does not appear as one of the hitmen mentioned.

What makes Hapoon stand out is that he appears identical to a previously shown important character... one of the scientists who experimented on Anya.

Both Hapoon and this scientist are shown with dark hair with a single bent strain of it covering their foreheads. Along with round glasses and similar facial structures. It seems very likely these are suppose to be the same person. Given Anya’s young age, this scientist is confirmed to have be active only a few years ago so its very plausible for him to sitll be active and involved with the underworld.

This same scientist was also later shown to have been involved with the experimentation of Bond. 

According to Handler, there are rumours that the subjects of ‘Project Apple’ were sold off on the black market after the new Ostanian government shut it down. This would fit in with Hapoon, who appears to have been a lead scientist on this project, being heavily involved in organised crime to such an extent that he is able to seize control of the largest criminal organisation in Ostania. 

Perhaps when the ‘new administration’ axed his work, he turned to the black market to continue it. Or perhaps he was already involved with the underworld. It is difficult to make any assumption since we no little of his motivations. 

The scientist who is likely Hapoon states Anya needs to learn to use her powers for ‘world peace’, 

By contrast, it is mentioned a few times that Hapoon is apparently seeking a war between the east and the west. This would go against the scientist’s stated desire for ‘world peace’. Of course, it's quite possible Hapoon was lying to Anya or his underlings. While he may be believed to want war, the only attempt by those hired by him to start one was done without his instructions. 

While this scienists/crime lord appearing multiple times is certainly mysterious, what makes him even more so is this:

This is Corporal, a friend of Twilight from his childhood in eastern Westalis. 

Notice his dark hair, the cresent strain of which is covering his forehead, and his round glasses. Or what about those large round ears also shared with the scientist?

If this kid is unrelated to Hapoon then this is a major concidence considering he shares such distinctive features with the man. Hapoon also does not look much older than Twilight himself, and it is completly plausible for them to be about the same age.

It is shown later on that ‘Corporal’, along with Twilights other friends, ended up enlisting in the Westalis army during the Westalis-Ostania war. At this stage his face does not entirely resemable that of Hapoon, but is is worth noting he is only a private. It was established earlier when Twilight lied about his age that you need to be at least 18 to enlist, meaning he is still a teenager and likely not fully developed.

His friends, including ‘Corporal’, end up dying due to the operation they were assigned to being reckless and poorly planned. Only their dog tags returned though, with bodies not being mentioned. We know desertion existed during this war, Frankie himself deserted from the Ostanian army.

If Hapoon witnessed the horrors of war firsthand could that motivated him to take morally dubious actions in the name of world peace? If his friends died due to poor planning could that have motivated him to experiment on mind-reading children and future-seeing dogs so that a lack of information is never a threat again? If incompetent Westalis military officers are responsible for his hardship could he have turned against Westalis in revenge?

We can’t be certain, but I do feel at the very least that the character design similarities between the scientist, Leonardo Hapoon and Twilight’s childhood friend are all too similar to be coincidences. 

And what will Twilight do when he meets up with his assumed dead friend who now rules the Ostania underworld?

EDIT:

So I’ve been told that Hapoon’s design was changed in the release of Volume 7 (thank you @hhellenn), which admittedly does weaken this theory by making them not as similar and adding some more credence to the possibility that the initial similarities were a coincidence…

But even still, I do think it appears likely Hapoon and the scientist are the same person. As per this image, the change she’s mostly in the form of his hair now being brushed to the side instead of dangling over his forehead. He still has the round glasses and oval ears, as well as the same hair colour and similar general facial shape.

Plus there is also the connection with Corporal as well having an uncanny resemblance to the scientist, indicating there is meant to be some kind of connection between all tjis.

However it’s difficult to say for complete certain until we get a better look at Hapoon (instead of just a brief shot in the background).

[silver-wield]

So I know from the Remake Ulti (via pictures from your X account, actually) that Tifa had a sidequest in Remake that would've shown her getting her dress with Marle's help, and Nojima really wanted that to be added in but it was cut.

2 questions:

Why was it cut? I'm waiting for my own copies of the 3 Remake Ulti's and Rebirth Ulti to arrive in about 4 weeks (an early Christmas present to myself! 😅), so, per your screenshots in the meantime, I don't think I see an explanation for why it was cut? Was it due to the lack of space (somehow) or the PS4's memory limitations?

Since we know Part 3 is Tifa's game where she'll finally get to be the sole main heroine like she was always supposed to be, do you think we'll finally get to see this sidequest somehow in Part 3? I mean, Stargazer Heights and Seventh Heaven were literally in Tifa's Lifestream sequence in Gongaga, her and Cloud's shared precious memories, so maybe during the Lifestream event in Part 3 we'll get to see this sidequest? Maybe as a playable flashback from Tifa?

Timing was the reason they gave. The game was running long and they had to cut something and this was an entire section they could axe without affecting the flow of the main narrative, even if it undermined them showcasing Tifa's place in s7 and how she contrasts with Cloud and shared some back story and character relationships. I guess it was more vitally important to show Cloud being annoyed and sighing for the entirety of chapter 8 and how much he hated every odd job he was given and not paid for all to get a dress for some girl he doesn't even like.

But yeah, timing was the reason they gave. It's possible they may add some of Tifa's level back into part 3 since they have the resources and dialogue and everything done already so it would just need tweaking and some fixes to fit with the current part of the story. I doubt they'd show the dress parts but the actual sidequests or cut scenes from them could definitely find their way back in.

They should've given us Tifa's level as a dlc. It's such a pointless waste and shows how much they underestimate fans love for her.

[cut-content-contest]

Moonjumper

The jist of his character is that he is the corpse of a prince, and his two rivals are the princes ghost and the princes ex. The 3 fuckers want to rule over the same area so competition. Also moonjumper I think only appears on the horizon, meaning he is the only 2d character in a 3d game which is pretty dope.

They were a cut character that was originally supposed to be pretty important, but all we got was gamefiles of vague information, a flat character model, a bit of dialogue, and some music. That hasn't stopped many different and wildly unique headcanons, designs, and stories from taking shape from the original scraps of this one axed character.

The third area/chapter in the game had a much different story in its concept stage, and even though the level was designed enough to be playable for a demo, the devs decided to simplify the story for that area from three central characters to one and a half. Originally, he was a prince that met with a terrible fate at the hands of his obsessively jealous princess, and he somehow got trapped on the horizon without any memories of his original life, instead going mad. He was going to offer information about the area to help to the protagonist, though he really wants to manipulate and control her and everyone else into being unable to leave the area. Mj's backstory was ultimately given to the new central character, Snatcher (who also existed but got a bit of a personality shift with his new spotlight), his musical theme (and somewhat his design) repurposed for the game's item dealer, and MJ himself was removed from the game. Bits of the original story are still scattered around (a spectral body outline on the wall, a face painted in the attic of an icy manor, the scrapped explorable area that still exists out of bounds in the final version of the game, a broken tower), but the character only exists in mods, fanworks, and the concept artist for the original level fleshing out his ideas in art. He has a lot of speculation about his full backstory, abilities, and role, but there's very little sources to have anything beyond theories.

okay. so. let me give you the basis of a hat in time's third (or second during the time moonjumper still existed) chapter. evil ghost guy steals the protag's soul and makes her do shit for him and along the way you can get Lore on why he's a ghost and turns out Another ghost-like entity that you encounter in the chapter killed him while they were both Alive. its more detailed than that but that is Not the point. ok. ghost guy who steals your soul. his name is snatcher. ghost guy who Killed snatcher. her name is vanessa. Where does moonjumper come in you may be asking. well. ORIGINALLY moonjumper was in snatcher's place. but! snatcher also existed in the game at the same time as moonjumper- just with a different backstory. eventually, moonjumper was scrapped, and snatcher filled that role. there are So many things involving moonjumper that got just outright removed because of this. However. there are also things that Didnt get removed that are still in the game that can be traced back to moonjumper, mostly through his design being different from snatchers- moonjumper's design is much, much more closer to the design of moonjumper/snatcher while he was still alive opposed to snatcher, who is just a purple ghost noodle. but even then, their human design and moonjumper's design still have quite a few differences. many people in the fandom/fan community of a hat in time like to try and incorporate moonjumper back into the story, and everyone's different takes are always fun to see :)

He was originally to be the remains of the prince, and was to haunt (and I believe attempt to take over) Subcon Forest. I’m pretty sure he was scrapped because a) there would have been too much going on in that one region and b) Snatcher was the spirit of the prince and in charge of the forest, so maybe they decided it was a little weird to have two characters come from the same dead guy. Also he would 100% have been a tumblr sexyman

Moonjumper is a cut character from A Hat In Time. Originally, they were going to live in Subcon Forest, and have puppetmaster motifs. He was also going to be the prince killed by Vanessa. The motifs and being killed by Vanessa were instead given to Snatcher, my little scrunkle doo.

Apparently originally there were supposed to be three characters for the Subcon Forest level, Moonjumper was supposed to be the Prince in the original story, but was later replaced with the Snatcher, who wasn't the Prince in original story. He still had NPC files on the full release of the game, but it wasn't a model, rather just 2D image with particle effects

He was a scrapped antagonist for the level of Subcon forest! Moon Jumper was scrapped due to the Snatcher being the main character for subcon forest, and not having room for subplots. Early developer commentary states that the Moon Jumper was stuck in the horizon and that his role throughout the level of Subcon forest was to get Hat Kid to join him in the horizon.

wiki link: https://ahatintime.fandom.com/wiki/Moon_Jumper video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mor-oR5ti9E showing off the NPC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krHXy8afF74

Yosuke romance route

persona 4 has got this friendship/romance mechanic called "social links" which is basically just 10 events that you can choose to gradually level up for each sociable character in the game where you raise your relationships with said characters, which gives you various in-game boosts. most of the women in the game are able to be romanced. however, there is cut dialogue which implies that at some point, one of the male characters was meant to be a romance option as well! yosuke hanamura, the main character's best friend, has cut dialogue for his social link rank 10 event which is voiced (VOICED!! IN ENGLISH AND JAPANESE!! WHILE PEOPLE HAVE DENIED THIS SINCE THE ENGLISH VOICE LINES HAVE HIM SAYING "I LIKE YOU," IN THE JAPANESE VOICE LINES, HE IS EXPLICITLY CONFESSING TO YOU I'M PRETTY SURE!!) that implies that there was at some point going to be an option to romance him. it's assumed that this was cut somewhere later in development due to the lines being voice acted, though i believe that the reason this was cut has not been confirmed yet (though, seeing as how persona 4 was made in the 2000s....... you can probably just guess why lol)

there were unreleased voice lines that showed what was supposed to be a gay route for Persona 4 (there ARE Japanese lines for this as well, and the way in which the "I like you" part is said is the Japanese version of confessing to someone you have a crush on) and a lot of fans do agree that the protagonist is best paired with Yosuke for character development purposes, but it was probably scrapped because of homophobia 😭

Exactly what it says. Was likely scrapped because Atlus are COWARDS who didn't wanna give us the gay romance we deserved. It would have been so cute though I'm forever pissed it was scrapped...

We know it was programmed it. Yosuke is the only male character with dialogue flags, meaning you can fail his social link. The only other characters with these flags are the female love interests. Yosuke also has recorded, in both English and Japanese, final confession lines, something unique to max rank romance social links. This means it was likely scrapped very late in development. As the game also covers (badly) gender and sexuality, we can hypothesize that Yosuke's character arc was supposed to be overcoming internalized homophobia. Instead he just kinda stays "jokingly" homophobic and never grows past it.

The player would have been able to enter a romantic relationship with the character Yosuke Hanamura— text and voice lines for this option still exist within the game, and can be activated via modding. They even have proper translations, and the English versions of the lines are voiced as well, implying that the cut was made rather far into development. While this is a sad loss in its own right, it also has devastating implications in regards to the original state of other pieces of LGBT+ representation which may have also been scrapped and/or heavily modified to appear. For example, Kanji’s attraction to men and Naoto’s gender situation were both downplayed and/or walked back in the final version of the game, but it’s highly likely that Yukiko’s arc was originally intended to include more bisexual overtones, and arguments can be made for Rise’s arc being meant to center on the struggle to come to some sort of terms with her own sexuality and presentation in an industry that keeps such a tight hold on those aspects of its workers lives.

throughout the entirety of persona 4 (+golden), yosuke is portrayed to be the best friend of the protag, but also extremely homophobic towards another male character who was hinted at being gay (before atlus fucked that narrative up too). his social link hints at him having a crush on the protag, and he was intended to have a romantic route just like the female characters, but that was cut (not sure why). the whole game is about embracing the truth, including your hidden sides that you are ashamed to show to others, and having yosuke come to terms with his repressed homosexuality (& realizing that he has internalized homophobia) would have fit perfectly within that theme, but atlus said fuck that shit and cut that entire romance out. the cut dialogue can easily be found on youtube. the thing with this being cut out is that without the romance and coming to terms with his homosexuality, the only thing left of yosuke is being very homophobic. no one condems yosuke for what he says to the other male character, and it is never addressed beyond mere gags or jokes. it's horrible to sit through and honestly it was such a missed opportunity. it's such an issue that people have made a mod implementing a romantic route for yosuke just because of this. every day i mourn thinking of what could have been

This game explores many queer themes, but lacks any explicit queer relationships. The fact that file scrapers and modders discovered an unused voice line for one of the male characters that implies a romance option for him was cut from the final game makes queer fans feel let down, regardless of how groundbreaking the other queer plot points were at the time of release. It's speculated that it was cut because devs or localizers thought that it would be too much queer content in one game, and that it would affect sales and create too much controversy. I, however, believe that anyone who manages to get through the mandatory gay sauna dungeon would have had no stones to throw about an optional mlm romance.

The first party member in Persona 4, Yosuke Hanamura, was originally going to be a viable romantic partner once the player got far enough into his Social Link. This was removed rather late in development, as voiced lines for a scene where he and the protagonist begin dating were recorded in both Japanese and English. To this day, Persona 2: Innocent Sin remains the only Persona game where the protagonist can enter a gay relationship with another boy.

In this game you can choose to romance several people. There is cut voiced dialogue for a romance route for Yosuke, the main character's best friend, but in the final game he is not a romanceable character. Some are of the opinion that taking out the romance option for Yosuke removes the complexity from his character.

https://gamerant.com/persona-4-golden-mod-yosuke-romance/

[raxistaicho]

The Savior Prince! Edelgard in Thracia, chapter three

This one's mostly an elongated battle. I find battles that are on the one-to-one scale extremely tedious to write and read - I prefer looking broadly at the movement of soldiers and strategies, not on the main characters doing cool shit.

Unfortunately, Reyna is firmly in the second camp. Therefor, I'll summarizing more often. That's not to say there won't be anything to talk about, though, especially once Leif himself arrives.

Spoiler: Reyna's pretty spotty about the kind of person he's supposed to be this early on. Leif, when written in-character doesn't exactly fit her preference for power fantasy protags.

Before we start,

DO NOT FUCKING GO PESTER REYNA IN HER COMMENTS SECTION. I DON'T WANNA SEE PEOPLE COPY-PASTING MY ARGUMENTS HERE IN COMMENTS TO HER EVER AGAIN.

So evidently I've been bullying some widdle iddy-biddy fanfic and that's bad.

Two things:

One, being small or irrelevant doesn't mean you're protected from criticism.

B, The Flame Empress and the Liberation of Thracia might be a small fic, but ReynaAtTheEnd is not a small writer. The Savior King, The Master Tactician and the Queen of Liberation is the number 2 fic on under Three Houses on AO3 for Hits, 7th in kudos, 3rd in comments, and 7th in bookmarks. This is out of around 47,000 fanfics. It has a large tv tropes page, too. Reyna's a 1-percenter as far as Three Houses fanfic writers go and to call her small or random is grossly disingenuous.

The Flame Empress and the Liberation isn't small because Reyna is some fresh plucky-eyed writer, still unknown to the world: it's small because this ain't 2019 anymore, it's still very new, and it's a spin-off crossover involving the blackest black sheep of the Fire Emblem franchise aside from the original Gaiden. And even then, Flame Empress, when compared to its July 2023 contemporary fics, has many times as much recognition as them.

So getting that idiocy out of the way.

Anyways, Lifis's pirates are attacking and Edelgard and Ronan are trying to sound the horn. Funfact, Lifis is a recruitable character, and a rather important one as far as gameplay is concerned, no less. And no, he's not particularly sympathetic and he doesn't really have a sob-story, he's just pragmatic in his douchebaggery and Leif understands he could really use a thief. I wonder what Reyna will do with him.

Edelgard had encountered a few of his grunts some time ago; they'd come into the tree grove where she and a few other girls had been picking apples and made a series of lecherous threats in exchange for leaving without 'causing a ruckus'. Beating the three unconscious with a stepstool had been the only moment to burst through the dull apathy that choked her like a heavy cloak ever since she woke here.

At least Reyna acknowledges Edelgard is a badass, even without her Crest of Flames. We'll see how long that lasts, given Reyna also once had Yuri (yes, that Yuri) subject her to the Standard Female Grab Area. Edelgard notes this raid is unusually big and decides she needs to take Lifis out to end this for good.

Once everyone started pouring into the streets, babbling in confusion and fear

It'd probably be "roads" rather than "streets" even in a good-sized village, which Iz isn't one of. Edelgard tries to reach for Aymr but of course she doesn't have it. Instead she goes for a woodcutter's axe, noting its poor quality and the direness of the situation.

Edelgard turned on her heel and ran toward the tallish spire of Iz's church. Her lack of any kind of armour is a phantom feeling across her entire body; she pushes down her unease harshly, without it I'll be lighter on my feet and get more attacks in. Besides, these are bandits, cowards preying on people who can't fight back. If I needed the armour of an Emperor to beat them, I would be ashamed of myself!

Edelgard is actually quite agile, as you can see even in her Emperor animations. She twirls axes like they're batons. Now obviously it's totally normal to be uneasy about being underequipped, but she can manage just fine. I'm only bringing this up because there's this notion among her detractors that Edelgard wouldn't be anything special without her Crests, Aymr, or special armor, which is just nonsense.

Ronan's mom is upset that Ronan is leaving to fight (this is mostly a modified version of his recruitment quote - he's recruited in the game chapter this fic chapter is portraying). Then we get,

The lack of hope in her voice... it matched the faces of everyone she'd woken up with her warning yells, and it disturbed her how uniform it was. The defeatism. No one had any faith that the world would change or that they could push back the darkness facing them. They only prepared for impact in the hope that being yielding will please their attackers and prevent them from destroying everything, only most things.

Eeeyyy, all right, we've got some of that Edelgard, pursuer of the future and defender of the people going, 'bout time! :D

“Contessa,” she said calmly. “I was an axe knight once.

Just bringing this up to express how weird it is to say it like this. Class names in Fire Emblem only exist for gameplay purposes, the only class that comes close to just being an actual thing in and of itself is the pegasus knight, which is extremely distinct and very specific to Fire Emblem as a series. It'd be much more natural for Edelgard to just assure Contessa she knows how to fight. Reyna does this kinda thing a lot, sadly.

Anyways, Edelgard assures Contessa she'll keep an eye on Ronan, then she urges Ronan to get to high ground and provide covering fire. Oh, Edelgard, if only you knew that mobility is like Ronan's only redeeming quality as a unit. Shitposting aside, good enough tactics for the situation.

Checking the pirates as they charge up, Edelgard notes most have axes but some have bows. It's the latter that concerns her, but we won't actually see Edelgard fight any hunters (bow-wielding rogue-styled units from the Archanea and Jugdral games), so... bwuh? She then boosts and/or tosses Ronan onto a nearby roof, so good to see she's still superhumanly strong.

Edelgard is concerned about lacking the Crest of Flames:

Ah, we don't have a healer. The priest is inside the church, needs to be there to keep a panic from sparking. And I don't have the Crest of Flames anymore...

Just bringing that up to demonstrate how Reyna puts a significant emphasis on the respective powers of the Crests. The self-healing was nice but just nice.

“Okay!” Ronan nodded sharply. “Be careful!” That you care enough to say so...

Reyna, Edelgard knows what kindness is. Or are you acknowledging she was in a terrible place after Byleth got all of her friends to ditch her?

Edelgard gave him a salute in lieu of promising him anything. Then she runs toward the wave of pirates. Already Ronan was taking shots, arrows whisking through the air above her head and raining down around the pirates. His aim is hit and miss, mostly striking shoulders or legs when the arrows didn't wiff.

An arrow shot to the leg or shoulder would be debilitating in this setting. Now obviously in the games proper, Annoying Arrows is in effect most of the time, but Reyna kinda-sorta tries to go for a more gritty, realities of war situation when it suits her and when Claude isn't abusing Talking is a Free Action, so I'm going to hold her to that standard.

It reminded her of Bernadetta, when they'd gone on their first church-sanctioned 'mission'

Reyna don't diss Bernie :/ She's way way better than Ronan. Girl matches Dimitri's damage.

[A random pirate] recognizes her too. “You...! Bitch!” The man snarled, immediately breaking away to attack her. “Is that the best you can come up with?” Edelgard inquired sarcastically.

Edelgard doesn't really trash-talk during a fight. She waits until her enemies are dead, usually.

And yes, that short paragraph did indeed use both past and present-tense. Reyna's inconsistent tense is one of the most distracting things about her writing.

He swung wildly at her; she dodges between both his strikes and swings her axe up at his face. She slashes one of his eyes – good, she thinks as he screams in agony

Okay that man is either dead or rolling on the ground in utter agony. And if he survives the battle he's almost certainly going to die to infection. That is the kind of actual grittiness Reyna misses.

this axe can at least cut the skin – and delivers a Crest-empowered kick to his stomach, sending him staggering backwards. Then she changed her hold and slammed the hilt of the axe into the man's bloody face, causing him to crumple like tin to the ground.

This is a lot of injuries to deal to a single person.

She doesn't get a second to appreciate the ease of that; both of his friends had zeroed in on her too. Ronan caught one of the men in the neck with a well-placed arrow, but the second one falls on her in a seething rage. “I'm going to tear you apart after I'm done with you!” The man raged, grabbing her by the hair.

Why isn't she attacking him? Reyna didn't indicate he just moved too fast for her or that she was busy. What, was she waiting for her ATB gauge to kill?

Edelgard swore at the sudden pain, stumbling over her feet.

Edelgard's endured far worse than having her hair pulled...

She forced herself to relax so he could pull her closer, then delivered a vicious kick to the inside of his shin and slamming the hilt of the woodcutter's axe between his legs.

Damn, Edie XO

The strangled noise he uttered before releasing her hair was very satisfying. “Hah,” Edelgard uttered scornfully as she whipped around and swung her axe at his neck.

First, this is some Marvel shit with the trash talking. Second, wasn't she on the ground? How's she reaching his neck, Edelgard is short.

It promptly got stuck an inch or so in his flesh, forcing her to waste precious seconds wrenching it free to some truly disgusting gurgling sounds.

There, see? Reyna can be gruesome when it's convenient.

The next pirate was after her right away, and the man she'd hit wasn't quite dead yet

What. The dude got hit in the groin from Edelgard's super strength and then almost got decapitated. Even if he's still clinging to life he shouldn't be in any condition to move, let alone fight. Edelgard takes a light injury to the arm, for which she notes:

Arm wound... ugh, largely superficial, but that bleeding will get to me if I let it go on for too long. No time to tear up something for a tourniquet, though. Maybe one of these pirates has a vulnerary on them that I can grab...?

She should be worried about infection.

Her arm throbbed in protest of being ignored as Edelgard slammed her axe into the pirate's chest. She has to do it three times before she hears his death gurgle.

Steal one of their weapons, Edelgard, the one you've got is clearly blunt.

She heard the next attacker running straight at her, and cursed quietly. She grabbed the fallen man's axe off the ground and threw it at her newest attacker; it doesn't land blade in

Now I'm picturing it clonking him on the head with a big "bonk" sound, dammit. Weird time for hand axes in Fire Emblem to have that issue.

They fight for a bit, village man dies, Edelgard uses the Crest of Seiros to decapitate the man who killed him in a single blow - I'm half-surprised he doesn't keep fighting for a bit given the track record - but the force also breaks her own axe. Steal one of the pirates' axes, Edelgard! Thracia is all about nicking enemy weapons!

Instead, Edelgard fights hand-to-hand, until,

...And that's when she saw the paladin. His blue hair made him stand out, even in the middle of a fight; he'd be easily noticeable even without the horse he was astride upon. The man easily closed the distance between himself and her, his lance impaling one of her approaching enemies from behind. It was a brave lance, Edelgard realized with a start; aged slightly, but very well maintained, and an unarmoured ruffian had no chance against it.

Finn has arrived!

He's Leif's sworn knight who's served and protected him since he was an infant. He's also the only unit in Genealogy of the Holy War to appear in both generations of the story (as playable. Shannan, Oifey, and Lewyn appear, but are not playable in both generations), so that coupled with his near-permanent availability in Thracia means Finn's got something of a storied history in the Jugdral games!

Also, he's a Lance Knight, not a Paladin. I'd chalk this up to Edelgard applying her Fodlan-centered lack of knowledge of how things work in Thracia, but I'm pretty confident Reyna's going to get this wrong often.

See, Thracia loosened it a bit, but in Jugdral, the Cavalier and Paladin lines are largely unique to the noble houses of Nordion and Chalphy. They aren't treated as catch-all promoted mounted knights like they are in other games, they're specifically prestigious holy knights.

Finn is a Lance Knight and promotes to a Duke Knight, both of which only use lances, though in Thracia he can use swords (and ONLY swords!) when he dismounts (this is true of all mounted classes aside from bow-wielding mounted ones, which retain bows when dismounted).

Yeah, Kaga was big on lances being mounted-only unless you were a soldier or an armor.

There was someone sitting behind him on his horse, too; as the knight trotted in an arc around her, he hopped off and drew a long, golden blade that glittered with light. It – had slightly similar characteristics to the Levin sword, but it was a completely different shape and the magic didn't smell of the ozone before a storm.

“Are you alright?” The man – no, the boy asked her. He was tallish for his age, spiky brown hair messy and falling around his face framing his dark blue eyes, but looking at his face immediately reminded Edelgard of Lysithea; a matured child who knew from experience that the world is not fair or just by nature.

And this is Leif. Emblem Leif, to be clear.

Now obviously Leif is going to be more hardened than other children, but he's specifically still quite naive at this point in his journey, and he's going to stay that way for a long time to come - if he's written properly, that is.

It's a major point that Leif - despite living in exile - has had a relatively easy life due to his heritage and having nobles and his retainer to look out for him, and thus he doesn't understand the hardships of the truly downtrodden in the Thracian peninsula.

Leif introduces himself and his allies, Fianna Freeblades, and says they've come to save the day.

He raised his sword above his head, and a beam of holy magic bursts from the tip and flies like an arrow to pierce the shoulder of the nearest pirate that the paladin hadn't dealt with.

(snort), don't be fooled: Leif isn't nearly this badass at this point in the game, nor should he in the story. Edelgard says she needs an axe.

Leif nodded in understanding and yelled, “Halvin!” One of the axe men broke away from the fight and hurried over to him; Edelgard's eyebrows shoot up when she sees multiple weapons somewhat awkwardly strapped to his sides, like he was acting as a human mule.

No, Reyna, human mule is Marty's job.

I'm not actually kidding, Marty's combat is just kinda bad and unreliable forever but his monstrous base con is put to use grabbing enemies off of allies to let them go after a capture is finished. He's pretty good for that!

Halvin asks Edelgard for the situation, and then,

“We must defend the church,” Edelgard said, snapping out of her surprise. “The citizens are taking shelter there. I'm not sure who's leading the attack, but I suspect they're in the process of sacking the mayor's house.”

Leif nodded and waved at the paladin. “Finn! Go and guard the church entrance with Dagdar!” The blue-haired man raises his lance in acceptance and wheels around to do so, trampling a pirate foolish enough not to get out of his way. “Halvin, tell Tanya to coordinate with the other archer here-”

“Ronan,” Edelgard put in.

“Ronan,” Leif corrected himself without losing stride. “Tell her to back up Ronin and keep up the pressure. You and Osian, protect the two of them.” His brows furrow tightly, showing both nervousness and determination. Relatively untested, most likely. Nevertheless Halvin nodded sharply and rushed off to his task.

It's not necessarily a problem that Leif is taking command, but he shouldn't be so fluid about this. He's not experienced in combat and, while he's important, he's not technically the commander of this army: Eyvel is. Additionally, unlike Finn and Eyvel, he doesn't have a leadership star (a Thracia game mechanic, for each leadership star present among your deployed units, every allied unit gains 3% hit and avo), nor does he ever have one until one of the advisors are present.

This, combined with the previous bits just kinda express a lack of understanding about what Leif's character arc is. She kinda did the same thing with Claude and Dimitri in Queen of Liberation where she immediately had both on Byleth's level, but you just can't do that with Leif even with heavy artistic license. He's not experienced, he's not wise (he makes a lot of mistakes, in fact), he's not badass, and he's not respected for his accomplishments but for his purpose as a rallying figure. Hoo boy, this'll be a long fanfic.

Then,

“Think... have to think... Eyvel?” “I'm right here, little lord.” The swordswoman – tall, blonde and noticeably older than Leif, experience radiating off even her casual walk – comes up to them as if his thoughts had summoned her. Her face is slightly weathered, prematurely aged but not nearly to the same extent as Contessa, and she smiles when she stops in front of the two of them. Leif visibly straightens up a little. “Do you have orders for me?” Leif briefly looked surprised, then visibly shakes it off. “We're going to the mayor's apartment and doing something about the leader.” He said with confidence. “Without him, the others should either scatter or flee.”

Meet the actual leader of the Fiana Freeblades.

Eyvel's one of the two Jagens I mentioned earlier. Sadly she's not around forever - or even for very long. But still, players brave a hellish gaiden chapter to save her. Truly, doing it for her.

Edelgard insists on tagging along to get the measure of Leif. He agrees after a little hesitation. As she goes, Edelgard notes the efficiency with which the Freeblades dispatch Lifis's crew, and notes the oddness that they don't have a healer with them. Thracia just be like that, Edie.

Standing outside the front door with a bag full of what few valuables the man had and looking furious at the situation was a very large slightly hunched back warrior with a massive axe.

Hunched-back!? Damn, Reyna, why you gotta do Bucks that way :( Going in real hard on the disabled, there. Anyways, Eyvel, Edelgard, and Leif rather easily team up for the Bucks kill, which is too bad, he's actually moved by your mercy and swears to turn over a new leaf if you capture him and then release him in game. Thracia is just like that: most of the bandits are treated as at least pitiable, if nothing else. Edelgard is a bit unnerved by Eyvel having a Flame Sword. Evidently one of the Agarthans had one in Queen of Liberation and it brings up old traumas.

Yes, Reyna, we remember what you the Agarthans did to her. Edelgard says they should behead Bucks and present his head to the pirates to break their spirits, and Leif, in his first moment of being squarely in character, asks if that's really necessary, only for Eyvel to agree with Edelgard. Then Leif goes right back out of character by nearly doing the deed himself before Edelgard points out an axe would work better. Baby steps, folks.

Anyways, as they catch up with the others, Edelgard notes that Ronan is out of arrows but unharmed - for which she is grateful - and Tanya (Dagdar's daughter) points out Edelgard's injured arm.

“It's a scratch,” Edelgard reassured him. Ronan stared blandly at the blood staining her sleeve and gave her an incredulous look. “A scratch that'll cost you your arm if you keep lettin' it bleed like that,” The girl observed, before holding out two vulneraries to her. “Here, these'll fix that up fully.” “My thanks,” Edelgard said, holding in her relief. She quickly takes the two vials and downs them one at a time, sighing when the wound in her arm healed up.

How do Vulneraries even work, I wonder. But yeah, about time it was pointed out Edelgard might legit lose her am if she doesn't take it more seriously. I'm still waiting for infection to be mentioned, but oh well.

As [Edelgard] went, she looked for Leif in the crowd; he was speaking to one of the older axe men and Eyvel, gesturing toward the church. He wore authority like a heavy coat, as someone unused to it and mostly acting on instinct.

You have not conveyed that well at all, Reyna. You're just informing us that he's struggling when everything we've seen so far indicates he's handling things pretty well.

Strong instinct, it seemed, but still... They must be desperate if they're having him take command now, rather than wait until he's an adult to press his claim.

It's worth pointing out that Leif's only gone forth for a rescue mission - the Imperial governor over Munster has his adopted... sister-girlfriend and Eyvel's adopted daughter captive thanks to Lifis telling the Empire where Leif was hidden. Leif is fifteen right now., which even for this series is a bit on the younger side.

What are you thinking? Planning to bolt yourself onto another righteous cause?

Well, unlike upholding the Church of Seiros, kicking the Empire (and the Loptr Church) out of Thracia is legitimately a righteous cause.

A failed conqueror

She wasn't that.

and queen of delusion;

Subtle and classy as a brick to the face, Reyna. Edelgard is an emperor, not an empress and certainly not a queen, and she was not deluded, as the game itself is all too happy to convey. I can tell that Reyna must hate Edelgard's "king of delusion" line to Dimitri to hijack her characterization and make her think of herself in this way, because oh wow did she have to stretch to make it fit.

oh yes, that's exactly what that boy needs.

I mean hell, she's the best unit in Three Houses, imagine how incredible she'd be in Thracia! Her bleak thoughts aside, Edelgard decides to help Leif see this through.

Now for a brief line from the author's notes:

It'll be fun to have Edelgard bouncing off them, because they're rather different from what she's used to.

"Edelgard isn't used to talking to non-nobles."

Her dark thoughts will be a throughline for a while now;

Please, spare us soon.

I promise, it's leading to a point in her character development.

"I was wrong, I was a foolish little girl, Rhea was good, Dimitri was wise, and Claude was amazing," isn't character development, but we'll see.

There's only one interesting thing from the comments section this time:

Edelgard does have a good head for war, it's true, and Leif sorely needs that given some of the goofs he makes in Thracia proper. I hope to take you on a wild ride of fun!

Like, Reyna knows how Leif is supposed to be but I have a feeling we won't really see it until the plot railroads her into doing it. We'll see.

That's all for this time! Like I said, not as much to cover since this was a battle, mostly, but we got some interesting stuff once Leif busted onto the scene.

[miirshroom]

Thinking about how Elden Ring serves as a Spiritual Successor to a Certain Fantasy Series

I find fascinating the lore ouroboros from reading Elden Ring in context of the Wheel of Time and vice versa. Significant spoilers ahead for Elden Ring and minor spoilers for Wheel of Time.

There's the surface level stuff like:

The Erdtree Guardians wield sword-spears and are guarding offshoots of the Tree of Life like the Aiel with Avendesora? Neat!

The previous Elden Lord fought with an axe and was succeeded by an Elden Lord who fights with a hammer and runs with wolves? Sounds a lot like the character arc of Perrin Aybarra. The Beastman of Farum Azula in Limgrave could even be a wolf brother who was "lost to the wolf"

Interesting choice to have a Commander Niall at Castle Sol, considering that Wheel of Time has Pedron Niall, the Lord Captain Commander of the Children of the Light. A villain who thinks that his cause is righteous. This has...implications...considering Miquella's connection to Castle Sol...

It gets more pointedly specific:

Raya Lucaria academy being located in a anatomically shaped body of water and governed by a woman sounds pretty similar to Tar Valon. But maybe it's just a trick of my eyes that the lake looks like an anatomical heart with the roadways and landmasses located at the major veins and arteries (I've sketched this out and it seems legit - it's an uncommonly seen angle of the heart though)

Radagon's name can be rearranged to "a dragon", is red-haired like Rand al'Thor, and his personal rune is a loose rendering of a woven Pattern - one of the central motifs of Wheel of Time. That seems a little beyond simple homage by GRRM to the works of a fellow author who he was well acquainted with (a nod from one book in A Song of Ice and Fire: "Archmaester Rigney wrote that history is a wheel, that the nature of man is fundamentally immutable. According to him, what has already happened will happen again, without remedy.").

So, what can Elden Ring be saying about Wheel of Time, a series that infamously has lingering questions that will never be answered due to literal death of the author.

There's a statue of a bearded man in the underground areas with a tablet at his feet that depicts the Imago Mundi - a real world artefact that is a map of Mesopotamia. This is implied to be the earliest age of civilization in Elden Ring just as real world civilization emerged from the river basin between the Tigres and Euphrates Rivers. This is where the ouroboros wraps back around to realizing that there may be some symbolism in Wheel of Time beginning at protagonist Rand al'Thor's home in a region called the Two Rivers.

The "Loux" in Hoarah Loux is a Germanic surname meaning "Lynx Eyed", or having sharp eyesight. The kind of eyesight that would be useful for a man out at sea navigating by the stars. The Prologue of Wheel of Time begins with the previous incarnation of the Dragon before Rand, a man named "Lews" Therin Telamon. "Theron" is a Greek word meaning "hunter". "Telamon" is the name of one of the Argonauts who sailed with Jason to find the Golden fleece. So the full name could mean "sharp eyed hunter, a seeker of the Golden fleece". It seems appropriate that Rand the 'Dragon Reborn' starts off his journey as a shepherd who tends sheep.

The Western Zodiac consists of 12 astrological signs (and sometime Ophiuchus), of which Aries is the first sign. The story associated with the constellation Aries is the story of the Golden Fleece. Wheel of Time was also supposed to be 12 books long. It was very important to author James Rigney (pen name Robert Jordan) that the series end with the 12th book - but circumstances being what they were the series eventually concluded with Brandon Sanderson writing the 12th, 13th and 14th volumes.

That's about as much as can be covered without getting really into the deep lore of Wheel of Time. I have a lot more thoughts about how both Wheel of Time and Elden Ring are thematically bound to the wheel of Vedic Astrology and invoking themes of a dreamlike collective unconsciousness (the Jungian thing). Also the alchemy stuff.

[icariathemuse]

The Arkham Hellion: Year One

Chapter 1: The One Where Everything Worked Out (Part 2)

Characters: Connie Inviglio (oc), Emril Griffith (oc), Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy, mention of Penguin and Batman.

Warnings: swearing, violence, insanity, doctors, hospital setting. This story is not for kiddos! 16+, everyone else scram.

Word count: 1.4k

A/N: I think we're starting to get somewhere but again, chapter one is meant to be boring. It's supposed to just walk you through the day in the life... because it's not going to be like this for long.

——————

“This isn't even ten minutes long,” Dr. Emril Griffith stated as he finished listening to the tape. 

“I interviewed her, led an open discussion with her, and from there evaluated her psyche.” Connie sipped from her metal water bottle, content with her work with Isley.  

“You have nothing on homicidal ideology or intent. You have nothing on her behavior or if she is violent.” 

“Of course she’s homicidal and violent. Nothing could have possibly changed since the last time she was brought here. Her treatment isn’t there to assist her, it is to assist those around her. From everything I’ve seen, everyone in this damn place is out to get the people to stop doing what they’re doing. If I thought my kin was being violently tortured and massacred and I could feel all their pain, I imagine it would drive me to a state of insanity similar to Ms. Isley’s. What we need to do is have a medical evaluation done to see what caused her to have such a relationship with plant life and how we can restore her state of humanity, if at all. Then, we engage in regular psychotherapy sessions discussing her feelings and we see how those things can be amended. From what I have seen, she is not irrational.” 

“She killed three men in a week with an axe for establishing a new neighborhood, you wanna tell me how that isn’t irrational?” Griffith picked through the salad on his plate, watching Connie explain. 

“Emril, her actions were rational, from her perspective. We can’t change her actions if we don’t first try to change her perspective. And we can’t change her perspective until we understand what she experiences,” Connie argued. 

Griffith set down his fork, and sat up straight. 

“You’re walking a very dangerous line. Associating yourself with psychopaths is how you become one. They will get inside your head and make you sick. They will tear you apart from the inside out.” 

Before Connie could respond, she bursted into a coughing fit, and despite her best efforts, the coughing worsened and racked her body. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her inhaler, and used it. When she was done, she put it back in her bag and cleared her throat. 

“I can allow myself to understand what they feel from a distance to understand them, without associating myself to them. I will be careful, but I think it is important to know exactly what we’re dealing with.” 

“We’re dealing with a bunch of loonies, Connie, what do you think?” 

“I think we’re also employed by Quincy Sharp, so it really doesn’t matter what side of the glass we’re on.” 

Griffith snorted. Anyone with half a brain at the asylum knew that the Arkham family was far from sane themselves, and their insanity is why they built the asylum. As for the warden, Mr. Sharp, he was nearly a fanatic about the whole business. 

“Alright then. But you- you do need to be careful. Devil’s advocate aside, what you saw through to today was the right way to be looking at things,” he pointed at them and gestured vaguely, “It’s the exact reason I trusted you with this job. But I know I can handle a thing like what you’re doing. Are you sure you can do this?”

Connie nodded hesitantly… her own battle with mental health went back the past decade and a half, to when she was in middle school. Her own trauma and unfortunate intelligence left her in a world of hell to deal with, coupled with the illnesses she inherited. It made her sensitive, but it also gave her the experience, stamina and self control to handle the job.

“I can do this. And if I can’t I’ll shut it down. Alright?” She stood from where she sat, across from Griffith’s table in his office. 

“Where you off to?” Griffith piped up. 

“The Medical Facility. I wanna ask a few questions regarding Isley, see what’s available, and check on that patient that got fucked over in IT.” Connie shrugged her bag over her shoulder.

“Oy, your shift is over in a half hour, right?” Emril finished his salad and tucked away the empty Tupperware. 

“Yes sir.” 

“Coffee? We can go over your notes.” 

“Actually,” Connie straightened out her jacket and readjusted the strap on her bag, “I’m supposed to be on the other side of town in an hour. Police stuff, y’know.” 

“And you’re still doing school, huh? Where do you find the time between two jobs and that much school?” 

“I guess I don’t, but I mean. I don’t get paid at the police department, it just covers most of my classwork. Y’know, I wouldn’t be able to do any of this if Gotham wasn’t such a shithole and everyone wasn’t so under employed.” Connie gestured with her hands as she talked, waving them to add emphasis or dismiss details.

“Do you sleep?” 

Connie snorted. “Someone in our field? In Gotham? It’s unlikely I’ll sleep anyways, might as well work on school stuff.” 

“And oi, you never told me- after you graduate, are you planning to work here or the station?” 

“I mean, why not both? Half the people in the penitentiary were put here by the cops.” She paused, knowing that statement was only half true. “And, well...” 

Griffith finished, “...And Batman.” 

Silence fell. Everyone had different opinions on the Batman, and Connie didn’t know Dr. Griffith’s. If she was being honest, she wasn’t even sure about her own. It was strange to know that in the shadows of Gotham, some mythological vigilante haunted the streets and fought crime. It didn’t seem real, but it made more sense to her than Metropolis’ perfect man, soaring through the clouds. 

“Yeah,” Connie mumbled, finally, stuffing her hands in her pockets. “And Batman.” 

There was another moment of tense silence before Griffith looked back up to Connie. 

“Well, I won’t waste any more of your time. You’ve got things to do.”

Connie nodded. “Later, Griffith.”

“Off you go.”

As Connie started walking to her beat up car, her pocket hummed, and “The Porkchop Express” by John Carpenter began to play. Only one person in her phone had that ringtone, so she quickly picked up. 

“Hey Dad,” she said cheerfully. 

“Hey honey. How’s your day?” 

“Good! How are you?” 

“I’m good, I just wanted to talk to you.” 

“Aw, hi. I’m just finishing up my shift at Arkham, and I’m going to head over to the station. And, y’know, Gotham traffic, so I’ll be free for a bit.” 

“I just finished up a hearing and I’m heading back to the office.”

“How was your hearing?” 

“Good! So far, so good.” 

“Anyone I’ll see at the Asylum?” Connie chuckled. 

“No, no, he’s going to Blackgate for certain. But no, yeah, this was a bigger case, this was one of the Penguin’s goons.” 

“No shit!”

“Yeah! And opposing counsel was a bitch, so I completely dragged him in court.” 

“That’s amazing! You’ve got solid evidence on him?” 

“Yeah. He was in a Penguin uniform, roped up at the scene of the crime by the time the police got there.” 

“Let me guess. Batman?” 

“Yeah. Honestly, he makes my job easier.” 

As Connie started driving across the long bridge that connected Arkham Island to Gotham Island, she felt safe enough to speak her mind, but she still had to be cautious. 

“Are you in the car?” 

“Yeah, why?” 

“So I can ask if the conviction is going to be bought out or not.” 

She could almost hear her father’s disappointment in the flawed justice system on the other end of the line. 

“No, no, not with this one, sweetie." 

“Well, that’s good to know. After Bruce Wayne started basically single-handedly funding Internal Affairs, and the Batman started serving up Falcone’s puppets on a silver platter, I can almost believe Gotham City can have an honest trial.” 

“Yes indeed. Alright, honey, I’m back at my office. I just wanted to check in and see how you were.” 

“Well, I’m doing okay. It was nice to hear from you.” 

“If you’re still at the station in a few hours, I’ll pick you up and take you home for dinner. Seanna’s making a new kind of pasta. Which means-” 

“-garlic bread!” Connie finished, and her father laughed. 

“Yes! Alright, sweetie, I gotta go. Love you!” 

“Love you too, Dad. Bye!” 

Taglist: @arts-and-sharks @burnthashbrown27

Comment or ask to be added to the taglist!

[jackoshadows]

Do you think that Littlefinger is going to make it to the final book or could he potentially be defeated in TWOW? I'm trying to imagine a vague outline of events but what's going on in the Vale feels like the biggest unknown. Littlefinger is a major obstacle that needs to be removed for things to progress but Sansa isn't currently at a place where that can happen, so I'm trying to imagine how that will play out.

I do think Littlefinger, as a major human antagonist, will continue into the last book ADoS. There's just so much happening in the Vale and the politics of the south in general, so many loose ends that needs tied up.

The Sansa in the TWoW sample chapter is different from where Sansa ends AFfC, so it does feel like GRRM had a bit of a time jump in terms of some character growth. However, she still has a way to go in terms of connecting the dots and figuring out what LF is really up to. She then has to get the Vale Lords on her side and control the Vale's resources through whomever is in charge. That's lots and lots of pages and story.

A while back I was speculating on chapter counts for each of the POV characters in TWoW here and here. I put Sansa at around 4 chapters. I doubt that's enough to get rid of LF considering it's very possible for LF's plot to intersect with what's happening in the Riverlands and with Varys/fAegon

“I think LF has a better idea of what Varys wants than Varys has an idea of what LF wants. LF is an agent of chaos who likes to be unpredictable and succeeds in that”  - GRRM

GRRM in 2002:

Who is over lord of the Riverlands? (Since the Freys have Riverrun yet Littlefinger was named Lord Paramount). George says that Littlefinger is the Lord of the Riverlands but that he is going to run into trouble. I commented that Littlefinger is really powerful now that he has the Riverlands and supposed control of the Eyrie. GRRM laughed and said that I need to remember that for all his power Littlefinger has no army. (I thought that was interesting). GRRM also commented that (I forget which Frey, Emmon?) the Frey given Riverrun really wants to be Lord of the Riverlands and has dreams of having his father be his vassel. (I thought that was interesting also)

The Vale itself has so much plot to cover - SweetRobin, Harry the Heir, The mountain clans possibly planning an attack, the Vale Lords and Ladies like Myranda Royce etc. And Sansa is the only POV there. Without Sansa we don't get to see what’s happening at an important location in the books. This is why it’s absolutely mind boggling for me that people see Sansa going North at the start of the next book! Like how?!

So yeah, I see Sansa/LF covering the next two books. If Arya does end up going south for a tryst with Lady Stoneheart it’s very possible this is where Arya and Sansa meet to resolve their issues - something that GRRM has said will happen. Lady Stoneheart with both her daughters and a final confrontation between Littlefinger and Lady Stoneheart is something I can see happening.

And yes, Sansa will eventually take down Littlefinger. However she has a lot of ground to cover. Littlefinger is a master at his game and as GRRM puts it, Sansa is just beginning to get there in AFfC:

“…She is beginning to at least try to understand how she can play the  game of thrones and be not a piece, but a player. With her own goals, and moving other pieces around. And she’s not a warrior like Robb, Jon Snow. She’s not even a wild child like Arya. She can’t fight with swords, axes. She can’t raise armies. But she has her wits! Same as   Littlefinger has…”

So yes, Littlefinger will be around in ADoS.

[rotationalsymmetry]

re: how we talk about terfs

at least as far as this blog goes, I’m not really bothering with nuance about terfs. Expecting any way of talking about terfs to result in zero terf recruitment is probably not realistic. So is a hardline “terfs are just evil and not really feminists, nothing to see here” actually less effective than a more nuanced discussion? Probably not actually. Most people don’t look further. Gross simplifications are effective. They are not 100% effective, but it is not realistic to expect any strategy to be 100% effective.

(As far as I can tell like most political movements there is a broad spectrum of ideological commitment, from people who have done very deep dives into theory to people whose analysis is mostly based off of memes. I’m not overly bothered by calling the latter type not really feminist — fuck knows Harry Potter is not especially feminist literature, I did a gender analysis on major characters in Prisoner of Azkaban and I think 1/4 of the characters were female, and it’s not like JKR makes up for that by exploring feminist themes, so yeah I’m fine with saying JKR is not a feminist — although yeah, obviously the ideology in any sort of relatively intact/consistent form is about women’s issues. It’s, uh, it’s kind of as though there were a strain of self-identified environmentalists who only cared about plastic straws and didn’t have anything to say about industrial fishing or fossil fuels, there’s a point at which it doesn’t matter where your ideas came from, the result is not that thing any more.

I think there is some necessary work that can be done in trying to smooth the way for terfs who are considering de-terfing or whatever we want to call it. (I’m not going to say de-radicalizing. I think being a radical is a good thing, I also am not impressed by any version of supposed radicalism that’s pro-cop.) But it’s not necessarily compatible, within the same blog, with the also necessary work of creating online safe space for trans people. So. there are values we can promote which, for people who adopt them, are going to make them very unlikely to adopt terf views, without necessarily talking about terfs at all. Obviously there’s talking about how identifying as trans and transitioning can be a positive force in people’s lives. But there’s also sex positivity (ie the idea that the foundation of sexual ethics is consent, not normativity or purity), talking about sex worker struggles as labor struggles (which is incompatible with the view of sex workers as victims in need of rescue, probably in practice by cops), talking about how cops and prisons suck balls, and talking about the importance of intersectional feminism (ie how it’s important to acknowledge race and other axes of oppression when talking about women’s issues.) And generally the “do whatever the heck you want” individual choice > social cohesion value. I suspect in practice tumblr suppresses non-terf feminist discussion because posting about feminist topics and then having to play terf whack-a-mole is so fucking exhausting. But it does have the unfortunate consequence that if you’re getting your politics from tumblr, there reallt doesn’t seem to be that much to feminism outside of terf circles. Which is unfortunate because this is very much not my experience with the blogosphere of the 2000’s and 2010’s. But probably people who are becoming politically aware now aren’t getting their feminism from the same places I did. And admittedly most of where I got my feminism is more progressive than radical as such; it pretty sure there are thinkers who are radical and feminist without being sex negative/rad-fem-y, I just don’t have names off of the top of my head. I mean, pretty much by definition radical feminism is the feminism that centers patriarchy as the primary form of oppression, but surely it’s possible to have good feminist analysis as a radical without downplaying class, race, disability, colonialism…

[adamwatchesmovies]

The Strangers: Chapter 1 (2024)

Rating The Strangers: Chapter 1 is something I'm finding difficult. On the one hand, the characters are dumb to the point of frustration and the plot is predictable. On the other, this is a weirdly ambitious picture and I really want to see more. This one's going to make me look like a hypocrite because I won't be recommending it, but I will be sticking with the series.

When their car breaks down in a small town, Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and her boyfriend Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) are forced to stay the night in an Airbnb in the middle of the woods. They don’t realize being there is enough reason for three psychopathic, masked strangers to begin terrorizing them.

I haven’t liked the previous Strangers movies, but only because I love the setup and the films they should be but never become. There’s something elegantly creepy about the Scarecrow, Dollface and Pin-Up Girl masks the three strangers wear. The idea of minding your own business and still being attacked by psychopaths is terrifying, particularly because so much of what’s going on is unanswered. Do the strangers own the Airbnb and have been waiting for someone to rent it so they can play a twisted game? Have been following Maya and Ryan, since they stopped at the diner, hoping the couple would eventually find themselves alone? Is the couple just at the wrong place, at the wrong time? Why are the strangers doing what they’re doing? Are there really only three strangers? Could there be more, wearing duplicates of the masks we've already seen? Wisely, the film keeps these answers close to its chest. The title of “Chapter 1” might lead you to believe that this is a prequel that will demystify every detail from the meaning behind the enigmatic question "Is Tamara here?" to who hides behind the masks, but you’re wrong.

What makes this third chapter frustrating is that the characters only have a sense of self-preservation if the plot demands it. If you think the guy working at the only garage in town has messed with your vehicle, why would you accuse them to their face, unless you want to risk further damage to your car when you leave it in their care? Someone already knocked at their door acting all creepy, so why does Maya decide to answer - and open - the door again later that same night? Why would she and Ryan assume they can rest easy inside a bedroom when they’ve just seen Scarecrow hack his way through the front entrance with an axe? Stupid decisions aren’t limited to the protagonists either; I guess we're supposed to think the strangers are "so crazy" that they just don't care about anything, which is why - even when Maya and Ryan arm themselves with weapons that can inflict serious damage - the strangers still act like everything is under control.

If that weren't bad enough, the movie cheats. Unless we're going to get a big reveal that Scarecrow, Pin-Up Girl and Doll Face are ghosts who can move silently through walls and turn invisible, there's no way they could do what they're doing in this movie. I'm looking at you, screenplay writers Alan R. Cohen & Alan Freedland and director Renny Harlin. The characters' actions and the unearned "scares" are made even more frustrating because you came to this to be scared. You feel the tension in this scenario - far more than everyone on-screen apparently!

Without giving away too much, let me tell you what the Chapter 1 title means. No, it's not a new way to say that this is "the beginning", it's to warn you that The Strangers: Chapter 1 is part of a planned trilogy. The second and third have already been shot. This is important because it means this picture ends in a "to be continued". We've seen more horror movies end on a "dun-dun-duuuuun" note than I can count, and plenty of flicks have found ways to keep their stories going with a "Part 2" but that's not what we have here. The story isn't over; it's too big for 91 minutes! Furthermore, this is NOT a prequel to the 2008 film. It's more of a remake, if anything, as the plot is almost beat-for-beat the same. That should make me angry because that would normally make this a remake that doesn't improve on the original - and therefore begs the question "Why was this even made" - but the conclusion has me intrigued. More than intrigued. I NEED to know what's coming next. Even though this film is subpar and the mid-credit tease about what's coming next is ridiculous, I'll be there when Chapter 2 is released. (Theatrical version on the big screen, May 25, 2024)

[anarchy-and-piglins]

Excellent post. I want to add two important notes/additions because you've activated my sleeper agent DSMP lore analyst!

First: Tommy stealing the ax is really what gets me about that whole scenario and is what annoys me when people wave that part away.

All DSMP discourse is so deeply bogged down by people feeling like they need to pick a side, and that one character's actions are always justified and okay, and the other character is in the wrong. This is not how it works. You can have situations where Character A does something that from their standpoint and their arc, is expected and normal for them as a person, and where Character B's reaction to those actions is ALSO justified and normal.

I agree that for c!Tommy, leaving Techno and joining L'manburg was the in-character thing to do, and probably even the right one for his mental state. He loves Tubbo. He loves his friends. He wants to be with them. He's been through hell and back. He needs this.

But I also agree that Techno's reaction was completely normal. When somebody turns their back on you, and basically gives the middle finger to all the help you've been giving them, and all out seems to not care that you're being screwed over by this decision*, you're going to be hurt and pissed off. It's weird for people to hold Techno (or any character) to this dumb standard of not being allowed to have normal ass emotional reactions to stuff.

Neither Tommy nor Techno was being willfully malicious, but both are entitled to feel A Certain Way about what happened without that making them a terrible person.

(*I will maintain forever that Tommy's timing was dogshit though lmao, I get that things went the way they did for a reason but he did kinda walk away while Techno was in enemy territory surrounded by a bunch of hostiles and showed 0 care about Techno being able to get out of that alive. Ouch.)

The ax is what particularly gets me riled up because it's such an unnecessary slight? Techno is honestly pretty calm in his reaction up until that point all things considered, but then he asks for his ax back - an ax that meant a lot to him and he specifically only borrowed to Tommy while Tommy was under his care - and for Tommy to be like "hmmm nah" is just a jerk move however you look at it. I still don't think c!Tommy is a bad person and I still think his decisions make sense (even not wanting to give up the ax, in the context of Tommy's character, makes sense) but like... is Techno just supposed to smile and be like "oh okay cool" and not be pissed about that? That's stupid. He's allowed to be hurt by that.

As a side note while I agree that Tommy was not fully aware of the hurt l'Manburg did to Techno, Techno did outright tell him they needed to get his armor and stuff back from l'Manburg because they tried to kill him so like, he wasn't completely oblivious either.

Second: and this is very important (and Lenn I love you I promi this is not a callout @ you)

TECHNO BLOWING UP L'MANBURG WAS NOT A REACTION TO TOMMY BETRAYING HIM.

You can feel however you want about Doomsday, you can agree with Techno or not, you can call it an overreaction or scorched earth tactic or whatever. That's subjective. But it being a reaction to Tommy betraying him is simply canonically not accurate and I hate it when some people say that to make Techno seem like a bad person.

Techno first and foremost wanted to destroy L'manburg because of the Butcher Army coming to his retirement home, illegally detaining him (idc how often Big Q tries to call it arresting, a country can't arrest a non-citizen outside of their own territory), putting him to death without a fair trial, and also illegally detaining Phil, and destroying/stealing a bunch of Phil's stuff.

Techno mentions he's going to destroy L'manburg to Chat when he's heading home from the failed execution, before he even knows Tommy is in his house. He also shows Tommy the withers almost instantly. While I concede Techno didn't outright tell Tommy that completely reducing L'Manburg to bedrock was the plan, he also did not really hide it and eluded to it often. But that's a discussion for another time.

As Lenn mentions, L'Manburg didn't give up on killing Techno, they just shifted to c!Dream for a hot second. And this too is mentioned by Techno, since he's clearly not an idiot.

Whether you consider Doomsday a reactionary thing for the butcher army, or a preventive thing for future attacks, or a bit of both (it's most likely a bit of both), that's fine, but you cannot argue that Techno blew up L'manburg because Tommy betrayed him.

The only thing Tommy switching sides did is hasten along his plans because he was hurt/pissed, and because c!Dream basically offered his instant alliance and materials, which made Techno able to enact the plan a lot quicker. If Tommy had not switched sides at the Green Festival, blowing up L'Manburg would have still been on Techno's agenda.

Gosh, I'm sure I'll get some discourse on this, but I'll just delete it if I do-

I feel like people forget that L'manburg tried to kill Technoblade.

Like, when they talk about the Tommy/Technoblade betrayal, some people act like Technoblade should have just walked away and shrugged off that Tommy joined the people who tried to murder him. And who still WANT to murder him. Like, remember, after the failed Execution, Quackity talked about how they needed to put killing Technoblade on the back burner because Dream was a bigger threat, but they still VERY MUCH WANTED TO KILL TECHNOBLADE.

Did Tommy know all this? No, he couldn't have known it. He wasn't there. And I think Tommy choosing to go back and make amends with Tubbo was the correct thing to do for himself. I don't think it was the best choice to abandon Technoblade in a crater surrounded by enemies that want him dead, but I do think that Tommy NEEDED to reconcile with Tubbo. That was always a step he needed to take. That's his Tubbo.

But, like, why does it seem like some people just wanted Technoblade to shrug and give Tommy a pat on the back and let him keep the axe? What kind of rational person hears "Actually, now that they'll have me back, I'm going to rejoin the group of people that dropped an anvil on your head! Their companionship is more important to me than your safety" and reacts positively?

Did Tommy say that, word for word? No. Again, he didn't know about all of the hurt L'manburg caused Techno. But that's the message his actions send. Tommy chose Technoblade's would be murderers. Tommy chose the people that would definitely try again to murder Technoblade.

Why would Techno take that positively? Why wouldn't he be angry? Why wouldn't he feel like Tommy doesn't see him as a person, only a means to an end? Whether you think his reaction of blowing L'Manburg up was correct or not, how could you expect Technoblade to be anything less than hurt and angry at that?

It confuses me.

[iprefertheterminsane]

SHOUT OUT TO MY WRITER HOMIES WITH MUSLIM OCS/CHARACTERS;

1. WEARING A SHAWL TO BATTLE IS THE EQUIVALENT OF HAVING GIRLS FIGHT IN STILLETTOS. 

Just so you know, this is what I’m talking about;

-Is it bad-ass? Abso-fucking-lutely. Is it Practical? Not a chance in hell. Especially not if it’s silk. If it’s cotton, you are skating on thin fucking ice. That bitch will NOT stay on. It barely stays on with me just walking down the street to Walmart. Wielding axes and rifles and swords and daggers? I PROMISE you it will not do the job it’s expected to-WHICH IS TO COVER THE HAIR. (Some muslim girls dont wear them-and that’s fine. But those who DO do it to completely cover the hair in public. Is it ~Aesthetic~ to see the flyaway hairs in battle? Sure, but those aren’t usually practical either. )Consider instead; 

sport shawls 

-For one thing, it’s actually DESIGNED to be worn to atheletic activities. Archers tuck hems into the collar of their shirts so they don’t get in the way, and track runners pins (ill get to this bit later) them down into the shirts to prevent flyaway bits and to stop them from getting slapped in the face. It’s breathable, stretchy, presentable without being attention seeking. 

Bawals 

In a pinch, bawals work just as well-as long as you specify that they are COTTON. Unlike the shawl, which are rectangular, bawals are SQUARE, and thus easier to manipulate, fold and pin down. If you wear it right, they carry an equal aesthetic value to shawls, and come in plenty of pretty patterns as well. 

2. I’m not sure about the USA, but the girls I know wear this underneath the headscarf;

Does it kinda look like a beanie? It sort of works like a beanie too. Hair is slippery. It tucks in any extra hair you might miss just by wearing the headscarf, its harder to pull down and on the event the shawl DOES fall down, your hair is still not exposed. It protects the ears-which is important even on a daily basis, because pins, headphones and any other headgear that might pinch them. It comes in plenty of designs, including ones that has open backs to allow long hair and ponytails. 

3.SPEAKING OF PINS; I’M TALKING ABOUT THESE BAD BOYS;

BROOCHES 

though , i suppose most of y’all are most familiar with safety pins, right?

what’s the difference? Well, if your oc/character is an athlete, it’s actually LEAST likely they’ll be wearing SAFETY PINS. They’re cheap and super easy to buy in bulk, true, but they also SUPER easy to wear out even with the smallest amount of strenuous activity. Between the three of ‘em, I’d put the brooches as the best option to wear in battle because 1) it has a large surface area, thus hurts less when pressed on with heavy items, which includes bag straps and weapons, (pins are sharp and can poke you painfully);  and 2) more secure-the latch is covered by the gaudy jewellery above, and theyre usually smaller and tighter. Stays on the stubbornnest, even when headscarf is pulled. very roughly. I’m saying that even the cheapest brooches will allow the shawl to be ripped apart before even letting it go. 

3. They probably ponytail their hair. Because Come On, guys.

Anyway it’s been bothering me and I just thought if yall could bother knowing the difference between skin tones for POC you could bother with muslim practicalities too. Or something 

[littlesparklight]

What traits of Paris are admirable for you? Like, what would you say to someone who doesn’t like the character? 😱 I’m very interested in your opinion.

Like, an encomium for Paris? ;) I can do that.

(Undoubtedly a lot, if not all, I'm going to say here I've said elsewhere because I love blabbing about Paris, but 1. I am lazy so I'm not going to go looking and 2. I love blabbing about Paris. Also 3. in the spirit of an encomium I'm going to (try to, since I do know he has faults and those can be interesting to engage in) defer discussing his faults, as well as the consequences even his positive qualities has in the canon situation for the moment.)

With the understanding that some of the things below requires accepting that Paris is effeminate and I'll be interpreting this positively contrary to Ancient Greek opinions about effeminacy;

One of the first things is way he stubbornly and determinedly is honest to his own preferences and presentation in the face of insults and ridicule of the same. Like, yes, dancing and music are good peace time pursuits and bad war time pursuits, but "all things in [manly] moderation/restraint" is an important "qualification" when it comes to men enjoying or being good at these pursuits. Paris doesn't care. Music and dancing etc isn't something he's going to stop enjoying or pursuing just because there's a war on. More than that, he's not going to stop dressing nicely, or focusing on his hair just because he's being insulted left, right, and center about it. Being able and willing to keep to your preferences in the face of social censure (your enemies are one thing, but it comes from close family as well) is really admirable to me.

Being able to take a moment to laugh about how great and fine you're feeling, how sweet life is, if just in that moment, while knowingly walking straight into danger is a pretty nice quality, too.

In conjunction with the above, and going with Hecuba's dream omen having happened, and thus that the exposure did, and the fact that Paris would have learned about this sooner or later... Look. Regular human people with normal human interiority would have to think about and confront this, however lightly. How do you come to peace with that your life, even when you were completely innocent of any wrongdoing, was considered undeserving to be alive? Your own parents, however roundabout, however unwillingly, attempts to kill you. Your parents are also later happy to ignore the reason/hope they were wrong about it when you come back alive, but at least by the point that the Achaeans make a final landing Paris would have to face, if just for himself, that it really was (not is, any longer, too late for that) his life's or Troy's.

That's a terrible thing for anyone to have to face, so, uh, being able to compartmentalize enough to still be cheerful and lighthearted is pretty damn impressive. (I suppose one could go with "he's selfish and literally doesn't care about anyone else" and like. Sure. I guess. But 1. we have no proof of that, and 2. the only other possibility aside from compartmentalizing to have some mental equilibrium is Paris getting straight up suicidal, when it's already too late to matter.)

He's agreeable and doesn't actually pretend he has no faults (as society sees them), and yes, again I suppose one could say it's cowardly or conflict-avoidant of Paris to agree to Hektor that he's correct and then not change at all. But some of those changes he shouldn't have to make, and I don't think he's conflict avoidant. His aside about Hektor being as "relentless as an axe" comes right after he's said Hektor is correct in rebuking him, which, while I don't think it neither negates that, does qualify it. Paris is lodging a roundabout complaint that Hektor is, if not wrong, then going a bit too far. Without actually starting a fight in a situation where they can't have one! His response to Hektor in the later scene isn't just flat agreement and this time even less a qualification. Rather it comes with a correction of Hektor's assumption of why he's still in his bedroom - again, that's not really conflict avoidant, in my opinion, just not making a fight there's no time and place for, and he doesn't fully have a right to have, anyway? And I'd say Paris knows he doesn't (or at least know this is no place/time, again, to have a fight), so that's why you get this.

(And he does protest Hektor's rebukes/insults the one time we see in the Iliad where Hektor is entirely in the wrong!)

I don't know if it's petty or not to add this, but I'd like to juxtapose the particular part of Hektor and Andromache's scene where she attempts to give him (perfectly sound but against the personal heroic masculine code!) military advice with Helen's rebukes/insults to Paris when she finds him in their bedroom. Paris doesn't tell her she doesn't understand military matters [because she's a woman] and neither does he tell her she shouldn't talk about those things [because she's a woman]; all he does is tell her to not insult him so harshly and anyway, he might win some other time. In this instance, he's markedly less sexist than his brother, which, I don't know if it might be another "symptom" of his "softness" and effeminacy, but if it is, it's (to us) a pretty good one. (And like, not that Paris doesn't talk about Helen as "an object" when they were talking about Helen and the wealth in Book 3 - but in this wise he isn't making himself guilty of any crime that any other man isn't, Menelaos included.)

Is being a bomb lover and making sure your partner is satisfied an admirable quality (even as that's part of the initial problem)? Then that, too, since that'd be part of ~the gifts of Aphrodite~. I do think you can interpret those "gifts of Aphrodite" wider than just about sex, so he's charming and good with people, and listening/creating accord (political unity, which was one of Aphrodite's other sides). But I know this is perhaps more extrapolation than otherwise, so take or leave that as you will.

(As an extra thing which has nothing to do with what we see in the Iliad and most probably isn't Epic Cycle material: Regardless of whether one considers Aphrodite the legit objective winner, gift-bribes or no gift-bribes, the situation of the judgement is an impossible one. But in a more "fair" setup, where all you have is the word of a mortal against a god that won, Paris, compared to many others who fail in similar (or even more damning) circumstances, gives what he promised to give, and judges fairly. I'm talking about a situation where, while it only appears in a medieval document but might be a legit survival of something earlier, Paris has a pet prize bull he pits against other herders. He crowns the bull each time it wins and says that anyone who can beat his bull will be given this golden crown. Ares fights the bull in bull form and wins. Revealing himself (or even if he does not), he is awarded the prize as promised.)

[cut-content-contest]

Moonjumper

The jist of his character is that he is the corpse of a prince, and his two rivals are the princes ghost and the princes ex. The 3 fuckers want to rule over the same area so competition. Also moonjumper I think only appears on the horizon, meaning he is the only 2d character in a 3d game which is pretty dope.

They were a cut character that was originally supposed to be pretty important, but all we got was gamefiles of vague information, a flat character model, a bit of dialogue, and some music. That hasn't stopped many different and wildly unique headcanons, designs, and stories from taking shape from the original scraps of this one axed character.

The third area/chapter in the game had a much different story in its concept stage, and even though the level was designed enough to be playable for a demo, the devs decided to simplify the story for that area from three central characters to one and a half. Originally, he was a prince that met with a terrible fate at the hands of his obsessively jealous princess, and he somehow got trapped on the horizon without any memories of his original life, instead going mad. He was going to offer information about the area to help to the protagonist, though he really wants to manipulate and control her and everyone else into being unable to leave the area. Mj's backstory was ultimately given to the new central character, Snatcher (who also existed but got a bit of a personality shift with his new spotlight), his musical theme (and somewhat his design) repurposed for the game's item dealer, and MJ himself was removed from the game. Bits of the original story are still scattered around (a spectral body outline on the wall, a face painted in the attic of an icy manor, the scrapped explorable area that still exists out of bounds in the final version of the game, a broken tower), but the character only exists in mods, fanworks, and the concept artist for the original level fleshing out his ideas in art. He has a lot of speculation about his full backstory, abilities, and role, but there's very little sources to have anything beyond theories.

okay. so. let me give you the basis of a hat in time's third (or second during the time moonjumper still existed) chapter. evil ghost guy steals the protag's soul and makes her do shit for him and along the way you can get Lore on why he's a ghost and turns out Another ghost-like entity that you encounter in the chapter killed him while they were both Alive. its more detailed than that but that is Not the point. ok. ghost guy who steals your soul. his name is snatcher. ghost guy who Killed snatcher. her name is vanessa. Where does moonjumper come in you may be asking. well. ORIGINALLY moonjumper was in snatcher's place. but! snatcher also existed in the game at the same time as moonjumper- just with a different backstory. eventually, moonjumper was scrapped, and snatcher filled that role. there are So many things involving moonjumper that got just outright removed because of this. However. there are also things that Didnt get removed that are still in the game that can be traced back to moonjumper, mostly through his design being different from snatchers- moonjumper's design is much, much more closer to the design of moonjumper/snatcher while he was still alive opposed to snatcher, who is just a purple ghost noodle. but even then, their human design and moonjumper's design still have quite a few differences. many people in the fandom/fan community of a hat in time like to try and incorporate moonjumper back into the story, and everyone's different takes are always fun to see :)

He was originally to be the remains of the prince, and was to haunt (and I believe attempt to take over) Subcon Forest. I’m pretty sure he was scrapped because a) there would have been too much going on in that one region and b) Snatcher was the spirit of the prince and in charge of the forest, so maybe they decided it was a little weird to have two characters come from the same dead guy. Also he would 100% have been a tumblr sexyman

Moonjumper is a cut character from A Hat In Time. Originally, they were going to live in Subcon Forest, and have puppetmaster motifs. He was also going to be the prince killed by Vanessa. The motifs and being killed by Vanessa were instead given to Snatcher, my little scrunkle doo.

Apparently originally there were supposed to be three characters for the Subcon Forest level, Moonjumper was supposed to be the Prince in the original story, but was later replaced with the Snatcher, who wasn't the Prince in original story. He still had NPC files on the full release of the game, but it wasn't a model, rather just 2D image with particle effects

He was a scrapped antagonist for the level of Subcon forest! Moon Jumper was scrapped due to the Snatcher being the main character for subcon forest, and not having room for subplots. Early developer commentary states that the Moon Jumper was stuck in the horizon and that his role throughout the level of Subcon forest was to get Hat Kid to join him in the horizon.

wiki link: https://ahatintime.fandom.com/wiki/Moon_Jumper what we know and some theories: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mor-oR5ti9E showing off the NPC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krHXy8afF74

Timmy

when a hat in time was in development, it had a kickstarter with stretch goals. one of these stretch goals was co-op multiplayer. we did get co-op eventually- but the character used alongside the protag wasnt always the same. the protag and main character of a hat in time is hat kid! in co-op, the second player plays as bow kid. but, originally, the second player character was going to be a boy named timmy. not much is known about him as im pretty sure he never really had much put into him before he was cut. what we do know is he is a bit older than hat kid (maybe he had an older brother dynamic with her?), and had physic powers. whether or not he would be able to Use those powers in gameplay is unknown. he's been modded back into the game by multiple people all with different interpretations of him.